MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois men's basketball head coach Jim Molinari announced that Billy Wright has been promoted to associate head coach. Wright enters his fourth year on the Leatherneck staff.

Wright assists with recruiting, scouting, game scheduling, player development, on-court coaching, and monitoring the academic progress of the Leatherneck student-athletes. During his three seasons Western has had at least one All-Summit League selection, including 2009-10 'Defensive Player of the Year' Ceola Clark III. The Leathernecks have also succeeded in the classroom, having two student-athletes earn First Team Academic All-District honors during their tenure.

A former player for Coach Molinari, Wright reunited with Molinari at Western in 2008 following 12 years coaching in the high school ranks in Indianapolis.

Prior to joining the men's basketball staff, Wright served as the head coach at Pike High School. In his first season, Wright led the squad to the 2007 sectional title with a 20-5 record for the season. While at Pike, Wright coached three NBA draft picks in Courtney Lee (first round to Orlando Magic-2008), Jeff Teague (first round to Atlanta Hawks-2009) and Robert Vaden (second round Charlotte/Oklahoma City-2009).

Wright served as the assistant coach for 10 years under two hall of fame coaches, Steve Witty (Ben Davis) and Larry Bullington (Pike) before taking over at Pike HS.

"I'm very appreciative of Coach Mo for promoting me to the position of Associate Head Coach. It shows the confidence he has in me and how much he values my abilities that go beyond recruiting. I've known Coach Mo long enough to know that he doesn't just do things on a whim, so I take this very seriously and welcome the additional responsibilities," said Wright. "My goal is to be a Division I head coach someday and Coach is putting me in position to gain the necessary experience to best prepare me for when my time comes. Until then I'm committed to helping our young men achieve something that I was able to achieve when I played for Coach Mo, and that's earning a degree and winning a championship."

A 2007 inductee into the Bradley University Hall of Fame, Wright played under Coach Molinari at Bradley from 1993-96. In his senior campaign (1996), he was named to First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference while helping lead the Braves to a MVC Title and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, Wright was selected to the MVC All-Defensive Team for three-straight years (1994-96). In his freshman campaign, Wright was named to the MVC All-Freshman Team.

"I have the ultimate confidence in Billy Wright's character and professional abilities. He is an integral part of every aspect of our program, which includes: recruiting, scheduling, academics, and player relationships and development.  I have seen him grow as a player, high school coach, and now as a college assistant. He will continue to be a major contributor as we work to build our program," said Molinari.